Suicide prevention among military Veterans has become a national priority; yet, there is a gap in suicide-specific intervention training for mental health students and professionals. The need for training in this area has become even more acute with the recent hiring by the Veterans Health Affairs (VHA) of thousands of clinicians to address the mental health needs of Veterans from all war eras. Since e-learning (online) education is more effective than traditional in-person (face-to-face) education for adult learners when methods, such as blended learning, are used, this mode of delivery may more easily meet the training and continuing education needs of busy medical professionals who may find it easier to fit online education into their daily schedules.

A well developed in-person training approach known as the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (or CAMS) has been recommended in systematic reviews as an effective tool for assessing and managing suicidality, as well as decreasing providers' fears, improving their attitudes, increasing their knowledge, confidence, and competence, and dispelling myths. The overall aims of this project were to develop an e-learning alternative for the CAMS program, determine its effectiveness relative to in-person CAMS training, and assess factors that may relate to adoption and implementation of CAMS in general and specifically through e-learning and in-person modalities.

Assessed beliefs and confidence in managing suicidal individuals. Using a 5-point Likert scale, there were 11 items that addressed the following: competence, reactions, beliefs, motivations, and CAMS as it relates to their practice. Scores ranged from 11-55 with questions were phrased so higher scores indicated more positive views.

Evaluation included 20 standard items assessing providers satisfaction with training, including items similar to other published satisfaction surveys. Survey items were rated using a five-point Likert scale indicating the degree to which respondents agreed or disagreed. Questions were always phrased positively so that agree or strongly agree is equivalent to a positive response.

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Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00905827